Titanium and Porcelain
by lindzlucy
Summary: It's not about winning. It's about how well the battle was fought. Samus has won the tournament twice in a row, but there is a battle that she will never win - against herself. And there is a certain Princess who has caught the bounty hunter's attention. That spells trouble. [Cover Image: "Girls of Super Smash Bros" by Gravija-Sunrise. Rated M to be safe. SSBB based. F/F]
1. Chapter 1: Fighting Angry

**Fighting Angry**

It's not about winning.

It's about how well the battle was fought.

I didn't want to be congratulated for winning the last tournament, I want to be congratulated for being included in this one. There are few who receive the honor, if anything, I should be revered as a Smash Veteran.

I don't want to be introduced as "the fighter who won," I want to be introduced as Samus.

Zero Suit Samus is fine, but I'm still Samus. And yes, Samus is a woman… Misogynist idiots. I am the only woman to be included in all of the tournaments thus far.

I'm stomping around Smash Castle, trying to find my way to a training room so that I can clobber the shit out of a sandbag. I ignored whoever else was in the room when I arrived, my tunnel vision only allowing me to see the white sandbag in front of me. The sandbag wasn't standing for long, I punched and kicked and smashed and repeated until I was out of breath. The sandbag pushed itself upright again and again and looked at me, waiting for more. It's such a trooper, always happy to help, always getting beat up, but always getting back up. I struggle to catch my breath, giving the sandbag a light pat to tell it that I was finished. It was then when I realized I was being watched.

I turn around to see a familiar face, but not one that I'm used to seeing inside the training rooms. She was staring at with such scrutiny that I felt heat rise in my cheeks. I opened my mouth to question, or perhaps yell at her, but she began talking first.

"Anger doesn't suit you, Samus."

Her voice is sweet, and calm, which makes her words seem even more confusing. Why does she care if my mood "suits" me? What does that even mean, anyways?

As if sensing my growing frustration, she continues, "If you fight angry, you'll make more mistakes. A woman like you… a sharp fighter, one with precise words and actions, shouldn't make petty mistakes."

A woman like me? I'm irritated by the fact that she makes a good point. Getting angry doesn't solve anything. I take a breath and calm my thoughts. There's no point in being angry, but I also see no point in small talk. I take one good look at her and realize that she had been training diligently before I arrived. There is sweat dripping down her brow, her usually manicured hair has been tussled, and her white elbow-length gloves are discolored in places from hitting the sandbag repeatedly.

"Training hard?" I question, changing the subject.

"Yes," she says, smoothing the edges of her dress. I thought that would be the end of the painful small talk and we could both get back to hitting the sandbags. She dashes that thought by stating under her breath, "I won't lose to him."

She's peaked my interest now; determination is an appealing quality in a person. "Who?"

She looks back to her own sandbag and brings a hand up to examine it. I'm now concerned that she won't answer me and I'd have to find out who the long way, and that would take more time than it's worth.

She clenches her fist violently, sending waves of magic through her white knuckles. "Ganondorf."

I understand now. It's an old tale of good versus evil in Hylian realm, one I've been told much about by their very own green-clad Hero of Hyrule, Hero of Time, and whatever else he's the Hero of. Ganondorf came very close to winning the tournament last time. If Mario hadn't defeated him in the semifinals, I would have faced Ganondorf instead. Ganondorf's win would have been devastating to the Hylian pair, and they'd probably never live it down. He is a powerful opponent and Zelda has already lost her first match against Olimar. One more loss and she's out of the tournament. It's no wonder why Zelda has such determination this time around. Link should have as much resolve.

I say nothing as she turns around and violently slams her white knuckles against the sandbag. The bag flinches under her fist, but barely moves. She lays her other hand flat onto the sandbag, sighing deeply. I leave her to her training and follow up with my own sandbag, who stands ready where I left it. I focus on my form, making sure each muscle movement is in time.

I hit the sandbag hard a few times before the other woman's calm voice intrudes, "Why were you angry, Samus?"

I turn to face her without knowing that she had approached me and I'm startled by her sudden closeness. I wonder how in the world she got there without me hearing her.

She observes my startled jump and giggles sweetly, "My apologies, Samus."

I feel some heat rise in my cheeks and I turn my face away. No one startles a bounty hunter, it _should_ be unheard of. I am desperate to change the subject, "Where is your dear Hero?" I look at her out of the corner of my eye to see that either the change of subject or the subject itself has her rather irritated. Perhaps both, I think.

"Link has been spending a lot of time with Fox recently," she huffs and crosses her arms.

"Does the little princess feel left out?" I tease, hoping to see her cheeks turn pink, revenge for startling me.

"Yes, because I'm a spoiled little queen-to-be who is defenseless without her Hero of Legend. That's what all of you think of me, isn't it?" I don't see pinkness in her cheek, rather fire in her eyes.

Shit, I think, I've struck a nerve. I stare at the fired-up woman with wide eyes, I'm not sure how to fix this. Or even if it can be fixed. Fuck. But now, it gives me an idea. If a woman like _me_ shouldn't fight angry, maybe it would help a woman like _her_ to do so.

I'm not sure if I am prepared for the consequences of what I say next, "…Link _has_ won a tournament."

I watch her huff again and her arms come uncrossed. She is about to smack me when I move the sandbag in front of me and hide behind it. She hits the sandbag out of my grip with a large amount of power and magic that I haven't seen from her in a long time. I've missed it.

"I think you're far from defenseless."

She looks at me with slight surprise before looking down at her hand. I don't want her to get all mushy with me, so I start to walk out of the room. I'm rather proud of my achievement. And rather proud of the power behind her attack that was initially aimed towards me.

She stops me with a light touch on my arm. When I turn, she pulls her hand back like she has touched a hot stove. "Thank you, Samus," she stares at me, "You're the first here to show me that I'm more than a princess who belongs back in her castle."

I nod, taking her gratefulness to heart. But all the same, I left the training room without a word.


	2. Chapter 2: Fighting Dirty

**Chapter Two: Fighting Dirty**

I decide to wander to the women's showers to rinse the sweat off. A princess needs to be perfectly clean, or at least, that's what I've been taught. I'm perfectly fine being a little dirty, and certainly fine with being a little sweaty. But nonetheless, I grab a towel and soap from my assigned locker and turn down the tiled hallway. I slip off my gloves, and carefully remove myself from the remaining articles; dress, crown and all. I leave them in a pile on the tiles by my feet. Impa would be appalled by my mistreatment of the articles.

There is already someone here, the steam becoming a thick obstacle as I walk towards an empty shower stall, across from the occupied one. I turn on the shower and test the warm water that pours out of the showerhead with my hand. Satisfied, I toss my towel over the side of the shower and pull the curtain closed. I'm so delighted by the warm water that I start humming. The song I choose is a lullaby that my mother used to sing to me, it has been passed down through generations of our family. As suds stream down my back and chest, I reveal in the clean feeling left on my skin in their wake.

I hear the shower on the other side of the room stop running and the curtain thrown back. I become curious as to who it was, and the curiosity overcomes my better judgement and sense of decency. I bite my lip as I pull the curtain of my stall back just enough to see but not enough to give myself away. I see a slim frame, long legs, and long blonde hair that I've never seen out of her ponytail. I made a shrill sound at the observation that she was not wearing a towel around her. She turned quick, but I ducked my head back in time. I scrubbed the soap into my scalp and face, trying to scrub the image of her naked backside out of my head. But it was to no avail.

* * *

I knew it was Zelda by the humming. I hadn't expected her to try to take a peek at me when I exited the shower stall. I've never heard such a shrill and alarming sound come out of the princess before, but I was proud to have caused it. At least, I think that was the feeling I was experiencing. I make no attempt to conceal the smirk on my face as I walk over to my locker and pull out a towel. I dress in my skin-tight suit as quickly as I can after drying myself off.

I hear Zelda's shower turn off and was suddenly conflicted; I could stick around, or I could split before she even sees me. I stick around long enough to see her come out from behind the curtain, take one look at me, and her face turn pink immediately. She knows her peeping Tom antics have gotten her caught. Content to leave now, I smile smugly at the woman who couldn't decide whether to hold her ground or run and hide, then turn down the tiled hallway and back to my room.

I was expecting to have a roommate this year, seeing as there are two fighters to a room and four women in the tournament. That, of course, is not counting Nana, one of the Ice Climbers who is inseparable from Popo, the pair share a room. The Pokémon fighters' numbers have remained the same, so Jigglypuff was put into a room with Pikachu again this year. Zelda and Peach, like usual, share a room, but I don't mind the isolation. In fact, I rather prefer it; it's tiresome to be around people all of the time.

I arrive at the door to my room, and I don't recall leaving it unlocked. I am on edge when I turn the handle and push open the wooden ingress. For some reason, I am not surprised to see Peach sitting on one of the beds with a tea cup in her hands. I am, however, surprised to see Olimar sitting on the bed beside her with his own cup of tea. I look around the room to see it has been inhabited by Olimar's colorful, little creatures called Pikmin. Some of which had their own cups, others were dancing around playfully only to stop when I had entered the room. Olimar and his Pikmin stare back at me and I am inclined to back out of the room and close the door.

"What the fuck just happened?" I ask aloud, looking at the room number. Perhaps I had the wrong room, but sure enough, it was the number I was assigned when I arrived, only a few days prior. There must be something wrong with the roommate assignments. I sigh deeply. Well shit, looks like I'm not going to have that beautiful isolation that I have been craving just yet…

"Is something amiss, Samus?" I hear a pleasant, almost shy voice behind me call.

I turn with a whip of my ponytail to see none other than Zelda herself. She blushes deeply when I make eye contact with her, and it turns several shades darker when I cross my arms. "Ah, my very own Peeping Tom."

* * *

I have never been more embarrassed in my life. Or at least, of what I can recall. Samus had caught me. And not only that, but I made the most unroyal sound and had the most unholy thoughts. As they say, curiosity killed the cat. But satisfaction brought her back, my mind adds. I shush the unwelcome intrusion and quickly think of a justification for my actions, or at least a witty comeback to defend myself with.

"I-I didn't mean – I mean, I-I didn't – It was…" My tongue was betraying me in my flustered state. The way Samus was looking at me told me that she wasn't angry. She was scrutinizing me, but that's not all. There was something behind the usually stone-faced woman. She was… Excited, maybe? Definitely amused, but not mad. I took a deep breath and decided to drop the subject. She wasn't expecting me to have a retort. Not to say I wasn't in trouble, but I wasn't expected to defend myself. My horrified expression softened into a sheepish half-smile.

"Hello, Samus. Is something amiss with your room?" I repeat, this time, my voice is not shy and does not waver.

She scoffs and looks back at the closed door. "It's infested."

I am caught off-guard, "Infested?"

Instead of explaining, Samus opened the door and stepped back out of view. Her room is "infested" with the little flower creatures that Olimar keeps. I am unsure if the nature of their relationship, perhaps they are friends or Olimar's pets, but he uses the creatures in battle. As I have observed, each colored Pikmin has a different effect on its opponent. Now, they are all enjoying tea with Peach in Samus's bedroom.

I can't help but laugh at the sight, and Samus closed the door before any of the Pikmin got offended and attacked us. "That is truly unfortunate, Samus."

Another scoff and she looks back at me. I'm not quite used to this amount of eye contact that she is giving me, and I blush again despite myself. I begin to laugh again at the pitiful look that takes place on her face. "Defeated by a princess's tea and some flowers, Samus?"

She lifts a corner of her mouth and soon releases a short chuckle. I almost gasp at the sound of Samus's laugh. It occurs to me then that she has no place to sleep tonight. "Samus," her name rolls off my tongue differently this time. She looks at me with raised eyebrows, wordlessly indicating that I have her attention. "It seems you are in need of a room, and I am in need of a roommate." One of her eyebrows drops down into a questioning look. My room is directly next door, her suit will be nearby, and I don't see why she would refuse, then why am I so nervous? "That is, if you are interested?" I ask.


End file.
